


Believe in Me

by TeaRoses



Category: Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Community: hc_bingo, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, hinted at shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 18:05:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11583405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaRoses/pseuds/TeaRoses
Summary: When N finds an injured Pokemon, he knows the right person to ask for help.  Written for hurt/comfort bingo for the prompt "trust issues."





	Believe in Me

"I need your help."

For a moment Touko simply stood and stared. She had not seen N face-to-face in months and now he was suddenly on her doorstep this late at night, asking for help, with a large bundle in his arms? Touko looked closer at the bundle. It was pink, and it was breathing. She realized that it was an Audino.

"Come in," she said, opening the door and standing back. He stepped in and gently lay the Audino on the couch. Its fur was matted and it was making high-pitched noises that did not sound happy. Touko was still wondering what was going on but now wasn't the time to ask. They had to take care of the Pokemon.

N's eyes were red, as if he had been crying. "I found her in a cave. Audino don't even live in caves. Some human must have brought her there and abandoned her. Just to be cruel."

"She's probably hungry," said Touko. She ran into the kitchen and came back with berries.

"I tried to feed her already," he said. "She wouldn't take food from me. I think she's afraid of people now."

"I'm not surprised," said Touko with a frown. She sat on the couch by the Audino's head. "You have to eat," she told her gently. "You're going to get sick if you don't eat."

The Audino continued to whimper. Touko said "Hold on for moment," and left the room. She took a hairbrush from the bathroom and brought it back, sitting down again on the couch.

"You see this brush?" she asked. The Audino's eyes widened as if she were afraid.

"She probably thinks you'll hit her with it," N muttered.

"I'm going to brush you with this brush," she said, ignoring N's pessimism for the time being. "It's a very soft brush so it won't hurt you at all, and it will help you feel better."

The Audino was silent but made no effort to back away from her. Touko began to brush her fur. It had mud stuck to it from the cave floor. She wondered briefly if her couch would survive, but that wasn't important. There were mats in the Pokemon's fur that would probably have to be cut off, but that could wait until later. For now Touko just moved the brush gently and slowly. The Audino closed her eyes and let her continue.

"I wonder if she has a name?" Touko said.

"You think I want to call her by some name that they gave her? The person that did this?" asked N.

She glared at him but then shook her head, realizing he had a good point. 

N sat back and crossed his arms, still looking angry, watching her tend to the Audino. Touko finished her brushing treatment, then patted the Pokemon's head gently and went into her kitchen again. She came back with a bowl and put several berries into it.

"You don't have to eat from my hands," she said. She put the bowl on the table that stood by the couch. The Audino knelt on the floor and crouched over the bowl but made no move to eat.

"Maybe she doesn't want to eat with us watching," said Touko. She beckoned N into the kitchen. They stood for a minute, N looking at the floor and Touko looking at him.

"You really surprised me, showing up suddenly like that," she said.

"I knew you would help," he replied simply.

They could hear the sound of the bowl scraping on the table. The Audino was eating. When she seemed to have finished they went back into the living room. She was lying on the couch again. She had eaten all the berries and her eyes were a little brighter than they had been when N had brought her to the door. As they watched, she closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep.

"Let's just let her sleep here," said Touko, keeping her voice low. "Maybe tomorrow she can meet Sunrise, my Audino. Because you're probably right. I'm sure she trusts Pokemon more than people at this point." Touko flopped down into an armchair. "I'm tired too. I was about to go to bed when you rang the doorbell."

N sat down on the floor next to her chair. She was about to insist that he also find a piece of furniture but decided that it was not that important that N behave like everybody else, especially right now.

"I don't think I can sleep," he said. "I'm still upset about finding her there, about what humans did to her."

"But I'm human and you're human too, N," she said. 

He buried his face in his hands. "Don't remind me."

"I didn't mean to upset you," Touko said. Without really thinking about it, she began to stroke N's long hair, using the same gentle touch she had with the Audino. "I just meant that we helped her. I guess it doesn't count for too much, since it was a human that put her in this state to begin with, but we aren't all bad."

N looked up at Touko. "Not all of us, I suppose," he said with a sigh. He leaned against the armchair, Touko still stroking his hair. 

"Why were you so sure I would help you, when you showed up at my door so late?" she asked him curiously.

"Because you're you," he answered. "You have such a love for Pokemon, and it's true, not just something you say to get them to battle."

"I have love for humans, too, N," she said. 

In her head she thought "especially one" but she did not say it this time.


End file.
